Sand Mining
After water, sand is the most widely used natural resource.
Sand is mined, smuggled, and stolen, and the impacts of this have far-reaching socio-political, economic and environmental implications, accelerating coastal erosion, and destroying ecosystems that are relied upon by coastal communities for their very existence.
December 13, 2024
Vietnam ex-official took US$300,000 bribe to allow illicit sand mining – The Star
Excerpt:
Police have recommended Nguyen Thanh Binh, the former chairman of the people’s committee in An Giang province in the Mekong river delta, be charged with power abuse, according to Public Security News, the official mouthpiece of the Ministry of Public Security…
Binh, 59, and other officials ordered subordinates to issue a sand mining licence to the Trung Hau 68 company “in return for material gains”, even though it did not qualify, state-controlled news site VNExpress said, citing police.
Between December 2021 and July 2023, the company mined over five million cubic metres of sand, supplying over a million cubic metres to a local road project and selling the rest for around $11.5 million, according to Public Security News.
In a 2023 report from conservation group WWF, experts warned that sand mining to feed Vietnam’s construction boom was depleting resources so fast that the Mekong Delta — the country’s “rice bowl” — could run out in just over a decade…
More on Sand Mining . . .
A Civilization Built on Sand – Le Figaro
How ‘Yellow Gold’ Became a Resource Under Pressure…Sand is the second most consumed resource in the world after fresh water. Substance of our concrete civilization, its demand will intensify in the years to come. A situation that generates geopolitical tensions…
Billionaire accused of stealing sand from Malibu’s Broad Beach, lawsuit says – the Los Angeles Times
A lawsuit filed last week alleges that Mark Attanasio, billionaire businessman and owner of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, has been using excavators to dig up sand from Broad Beach and carry it back to his house as part of an ongoing construction project…
Sand trafficking: a scourge that is worsening in Latin America – El Nuevo Siglo | Insight Crime
Low risk, difficult to detect and with huge profits, this crime affects most countries in the region. There are several ‘cartels’ in this black market…..
Looting of the sea: the great sand theft – ABC
It is the most demanded raw material after water. It is used to make concrete, chips, detergents, paints… and even artificial islands. The big cities are hungry for sand and to satisfy it, the world’s beaches are being plundered….
2022 Six Part Series on “Sand Dealers” – Le Monde
Published in 2022, links to Le Monde’s Series on Sand are provided here…
Inside the Crime Rings Trafficking Sand – Scientific American
Organized crime is mining sand from rivers and coasts to feed demand worldwide, ruining ecosystems and communities. Can it be stopped?…
The Unsustainable Harvest of Coastal Sands – Science
Although coasts form a crucial part of the natural wealth of the planet, their conservation is increasingly jeopardized owing to the growing human footprint. With 50% of the world’s population living within 150 km of a coastline, increasing urbanization and population pressures are threatening these fragile ecosystems…
Alarming’ scale of marine sand dredging laid bare by new data platform – the Guardian
One million lorries of sand a day are being extracted from the world’s oceans, posing a “significant” threat to marine life and coastal communities facing rising sea levels and storms, according to the first-ever global data platform to monitor the industry….
6 billion tonnes of sand taken annually from oceans, causing irreparable damage to benthic life – Down to Earth
Some six billion tonnes of sand is being extracted annually from the floor of the world’s oceans, causing irreparable damage to benthic life, according to a new global data platform on sand and other sediment extraction in the marine environment.
The new data platform, Marine Sand Watch, has been developed by GRID-Geneva, a Centre for Analytics within the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). It is available at: https://unepgrid.ch/en/marinesandwatch…